Tricks of Fate

Chapter 19

[Barry]

I woke up the next morning with an overflow of energy. My body was a buzz with adrenaline and all my senses were on high alert. I felt scared and threatened and for some reason I felt a need to see baby Nora. I got out of bed and walked downstairs, each nook and cranny of the house flooding my mind with a feeling of familiarity. I heard Nora's voice and followed it into the kitchen. My mother was sipping her coffee with a newspaper in her hands while Nora was on the phone.
"Love Mommy." she said and I immidiately knew that she was talking to Iris. When she put down the phone, she turned around to look at me as if she senced me standing there.
"Daddy!" she yelled running towards me and startling my mother.
"Goodness Nora." mom laughed.
I picked her up and she hugged me. The fear that had me in its tight grip melted away and it became easier to breathe.
"Good morning my little angel." I said, confused as to why I felt the way I did. Why did my body think she needed protecting? I wondered to myself.
"Morning Daddy." she answered with the cutest little smile. I felt my insides turn to mush, she had me wrapped around her little finger and I was loving every second of it.
"Well, now we know who's gonna have to play bad cop between you and Iris." my mom chuckled as she observed our exchange from behind her reading glasses.

As I laughed at the truth behind her remark, the door bell rang and she went to answer. She came back into the kitchen accompanied by two men, probably in their mid forties. As I took in their features I realised that they were twins. They were both dressed from head to toe in black and wore black framed specs. The only way to tell them apart was the fact that one of them was in a wheel chair.
"I see you've awoken Mr Allen." the one standing observed, revealing that they both knew me. Again, my amnesia put me at a disadvantage.
"Yes I am, and forgive me but how exactly do you know me?" I asked.
"I think you should redirect this conversation into the living room. Nora honey come with Nana, let's get you ready for school." my mom answered.
Reluctantly I agreed and handed Nora to my mother. My body instantly went back into red alert but I followed the two men into the living room and once we were all settled they started their explanation.

"Well let us introduce ourselves I'm Harrison Wells and this is my brother Harry." the handicapped one, Harrison, said.
"We're scientists and the founder's of S.T.A.R Labs, and nine months ago your parents came into contact with us through doctor Snow and asked for our help. You see, you Mr Allen are a bit of a scientific mystery." he explained.
"How so?" I asked, growing intrigued.
"Well for starters when Dr Snow explained your symptoms to us we were rather baffled. You had a heart rate that was much too elivated to say the least and your body temperature had irregular spikes where it would rise to beyond humanly possible readings." Harry revealed.
"Wait, but in that case, shouldn't I be... You know... Less alive?" I answered.
"Yes. Yes you should Mr Allen and that is but one of the incredible feats that makes you such a medical miracle. Besides your obvious continued life we also found some extraordinary qualities while studying samples of your blood. Your cells, when subjected to enough stress, seemed to become energised and began to vibrate almost as if injected with excess adrenaline." Harry continued.
"Yes, yes and the cellular regeneration was beyond what would be considered normal, happening at speeds no human could ever recreate. Thus bringing us to the conclusion that you are... More than human. A... metahuman, so to speak." Harrison elaborated.
I felt a migraine begin to develop as I tried to take all the information in.
"Hold on a second, are you trying to tell me that I'm some kind of superhero?" I asked.
"Well Mr Allen, a superhero is a person who uses superhuman abilities to complete heroic acts. You...are just a person with superhuman abilities." Harry explained.
"Yes, abilities that we would like to further analyse, with your cooperation ofcourse." Harrison added.
"Analyse?" I questioned, not liking the sound of that.
"Yes. We'll put your body through tests of indurance, strength and speed and see how you perform. With the data we collect we can then formulate a way to help you either improve your abilities or permanently cure them." Harrison proposed.

I took a minute then and thought about Nora. If what ever I was feeling was true then Nora would need me to protect her and I wouldn't be able to do that if I weren't in complete control of my body.
"I'll do it. I'll let you test me, and I want to improve my powers not cure them. I have a feeling I might need them." I answered.
The doctors seemed satisfied, at least that's what I thought the slight grins on their faces meant, it was hard to read facial expressions with these two. They stayed for a few more minutes and explained some of the tests they would run and gave me a date in the following week when we would begin. I shook their hands and showed them out, thanking them for their time.

"So? How did it go?" my mother asked as I walked into the kitchen to grab some coffee.
"Um, well apparently I'm a superhuman and they want me as their lab rat." I said with a straight face and when my moms eyes widen I smiled.
"I'm kidding. They do want to run some tests on me but it's nothing serious." I said.
She laughed and answered "Well I see your sense of humour hasn't gone with your memories."
"Speaking of memories do I have any pictures of Iris? I'm trying to remember what she looks like." I asked, genuinely interested.
"Why would you want a photo when you can meet her in person?" she asked, taking a sip of what seemed like her second cup of coffee.
"What do you mean?"
"Well Star city isn't that far of a drive and you do have a car that hasn't been used in nine months so...You work it out."
I thought about it for a second. It would be nice to see her. Maybe spend sometime with her away from everything. Get to know her all over again. But then that foreshadowing of danger came back and the thought of leaving Nora made me uneasy.
"But what about college...and...and Nora?"
"Barry. It's been nine months. College can wait another week. As for Nora, I'm taking care of her and last time I checked I have plenty of experience considering you're still alive twenty years later." she joked.
I wanted to go, I really did. A part of me was drawn to her and do you know how unsettling it is to love someone and not remember what they look like? To not recall what it feels like when they touch you, or when they hold you close? But the other part of me, the father part of me, just couldn't leave Nora alone when my gut was telling me that something was wrong.
"I'll think about it." I said, then I took my coffee cup up to my bedroom. Once inside I sat up on the bed and reached out for my phone. The notification light was blinking and I wondered who it was from. My phone wasn't pin or password protected which made me think that I probably didn't have much to hide.
The notification light was from an email I got from an audiobook supplier. I opened it and the first words to catch my eye were,

"Congratulations, you're our lucky winner!"